Method oe and apparatus eor eorming sheet glass



Nov. 3Q E926.

G. E. HOWARD METHOD OFAND APPARATUS FOR FORMING SHEET GLASS Filed March 13, 1926 2 Sl'n'eets-Sl'xeeft- 1 Nov. 30 1926.

G. E. HOWARD METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING SHEET GLASS Filed March 13, `1926 .2 Sheets-Sheet. 2

INVENTOR Patented Nov. 30, i926.

GEORGE E. norman, orpnurnaarnnnsriiviiiiiii, Assieriion To HARTFORD-Emmen COMPANY, or iieniroiaii, ooiiiinorionn igoonronamioivior DEIasiiiriinn.Y

METHOD ornivnirrnmiriis vson ironiviiiier` siiinn'ry Grass."

Appiicaiionfiieaiviarcii.is, i926., serial` iva. 94,448.5

My invention relatesto a inethodyand apn paratus-for toriningsheetglass, and niore particularly to the rolling of plate glass, 'and constitutes/an improvement uponl my application, Serial` No. 88,823,l iiledl February 17,1926.

Infthe 'rollingk of plate glass. upon a table has been customary to dunip a mass of f f.. -inoltenglass troni apot in kquantity sunicient to forni a single plate and then spread suoli glass by a sheet-forming roll. y' if no er'or't is jniade tospread the lrnassoffglass toward the edges Vof Vthe .table :previous to coininencement of the rolling'operation, a

laigejinass .of dass is banked against the roll and.I particles *ol-hereof` becoine chilled, and ktiereaifter inixed with the hotterglass,

thus rcausing the presence of reainf inthe nished sheet. Furthermore, the sheet soV formed is unduly elongated or oi' generally.

elliptical shapel because theroll,.travelsfa considerable.distancey before thek glassfivhich is massed at its inid portion can spread tov toward the edge ofthe table, through the" use of hooksor otherwise, laps,'searns and other imperfect-ions are formed in the iinished sheety of Iglass; lt is highly important that the glass be distributed on the, table with a ininir `iin amount .oidisturbance and a niiniinuin Yamount of banliing` or pili g upv against thesheetforniingmroll. ne object o'f niyinvention is to provide ineansand a niethod whereby spreading oyeinent oit' theinass of glass entering into sheet 'is eected largely by the faction'o-f ravity f 'Another object of my invention is to sini-` p'li'iy V'and improvev generally Vthe 'methods of and` apparatus `or `i'ori`ning sheet glass;

' Une `means -vvhfch invention may' be `-'I'Jracticed *is s`hoiv1i in 'the accompanying drawing., wherein Fig l 1s a yplan vieivloffa e and-a sheet-forming roll, Fig.

Casting "tabl 2 is an elevationalsectional vieiv ofthe api paratuso. l; Fig. 3 is a sectional l,vievv tai-:en on the; line 3 3 oic F l; Fig. 4. is a planwvieivoifthe apparatus of Fig. l, but showing., diagraininatically, contours of the molten glass at'ivarious stages oi" the sheety ori'ning operation; Fig. 5 shows the posif y tiono-ocupied by the casting table at ank early stage of the sheet-forming operation;

Fig." 6 shows vthe position 'occupied by ythe y table faty a later stage in thepperation, and Figs, 7, 8 and 9 are kviews taken onv thev lines (1-7 8-"-8 and .Ci-#9,' respectively, of-Fig. 4.

A convex casting` table l0 is pivotally inoiintedy upon a base 171 and is provided With marginal ribs l2 upon which a sheet-` forniingrfroll 13Y yis supportedk and which therefore determine the thickness of the plate of glass that si'ornied upon the table. y

The sheet-forming roll 13 is concave to yconiori'n to the convexity of the ntable 10.

y ln Aorder to oscillate the table, l0 about its pivot,y l inay provide any suitable ineans such as a piston andfcylinder device 11i-'that .operates a pistonv rodyl that ispivotally connected to ,n the rear end oit' the table. F luid vpressure is adinitted from a supply pipe i6 past a control valve lf? to either the upper oir lower sideof the piston (inot shown) Within the cylinder.

The table l() is convex in cross section7 as shoivn niore cleariyfin Fig. 3, in .order to facilitate they loi'v oi a mass of niolten glass i8 toward the 'edges of the table. If the molten inass 18 is 'deposited upon the table when the roller and thetable occupy the ypositionsindicated in Figs. l and 2,. the inassi will assume the contour 19, thusy .avoiding the necessity ofiinoving the pot across the table While pouring to effect spreading of the glass, or ot using,` hooks or scoops to'spreacl the niass 1 8.

sor .f

In order, however, to 4[ill in the corner i portions of the table' immediately adjacent to the ends ofi the roll 'lftlieltable yis tilted to the-position indicatedby dotted lines in Fig.` 2, thus caiising vthe glass kto now' back against'4 he roll and assiiniesubstantially the contour A 'cated'by'the dottedflines 20'. It vi'll tliiisfbese'en that thisend of they `cornpleted sheet'oi nglass v'vi'll require but little tiininingin order -tostpiiaie the' same, vand that the'fglass is distributed largely fby grav', vitatioi'jial."i'lo-v'v `and 'Without excessive fdis-A turbaiice tlfie'reoff;4 1 Furthermore there "is-n substantialmassing or piling of the glass against thev roll, thereby avoiding excessive chilling of certain portions thereof. l

Nlienthe glass has assumed the contour indicatedat 20, tlievalvel? isactuated to raise therea-r end of the talolelO to the position shown in Fig. 5. The glass therefore x tends to flow toward the forward end of the table as indicated bythe -line 2l", and that'Y portion `et the massdii'eetly in contact with the i'oll'l isr but Alittle thicker thanthe iinished sheet. r-is the glass advances 'forwardly'ro'f 'the table, the mass" 2l will become reduced to the extent-indicated at 22. Thereupon the table can' he `gra dually returned toward horizontalL positionne indicated Fig'. G, sin'ce'it is necessary 'that sufficient thickness be maintained at theinid portion of the table; 'Various stagesof y reduction inj thickness 'ofthe streaniof glass durinri progress of the roller are shown incross sectiony by the outlines 2S, 2li a'nd25, in Figs f7, S and 9, respectively.

Y The forward edge'of the stream will vbe gradually brought to the contours indicated e126, V2,7 and 28, inV Fig. d. Since it is ex` tremelydiiiicultto completely fill out the corners of the sheet andv avoid any triinf iniing;` the contour at 28 is such as to permit thetrinnningof theV forward end of the sheet on a straight line with a minimum amount of loss, since the mid portion of the sufiiciently high temperature when removed from Vthe table l0 that Vit will flatten of its o wn weight, upon the table sections 30 and ln the practical operation of mymethod the exact timing of the various phases of the operations. the coordination of table movements and the roller movements and the pot tipping movements will be suscepti ble of agr/eat variety of combinations, The size and thickness lof a finished sheet, ,teniperature of the glass and otherconditions determine the particular thingto lhe done that will result inthe ybest final product.

' This invention lis therefore aimed to cover various combinations by which the various steps which' are new Vare thus correlated. lior instance, it may be advisableto cast the pot ofglassgupon the table Vwhile thedtableis in a horizontal position, or this can be done when bskwardlyfnclned Positie-es 0r renacer while the table moving from ahorizontal to an inclined position, ,or fromV an' inclined position to a horizontalposition, Whichever is best-for the proper spreading of the glass under the conditions vat whichitfis being cast. 7

The spreading, on the other hand, mayre-V quire that the roll he started 'while the table isin baclrw'ardly inclined position, the roller thus going up-hill at first, oi-the roller may be started conjointly with the upwardy rise of the table from aiiVinclined position,` or the roller inaybestartedwhile I the glass is still spreading` andthe ltable'is still droppii'ig,v inf a backwardly inclined"2p0 sition. Movement ofthe roll may alsolbe' delayed -until the table h'asbeen restored to a yhorizontal position.` The rolling may` consist. of astart while the table is in an` inclined position, continued; for a space while ina horizontal'pos'ition and thencon-` tinuedA for aV 'time withth'e table in a for`V wardly inclined position and finally be' fin? ished with the table back again to a horizoiital level. Again, it may be found" bestv to start the rolling and change the position of the table from a backwardly inclined position to a forwardly inclined position and haelt again to` horizontal without pausing` in 'any certain position,l but having Vthese movements continuous.

Finally, the table may lbe inclined vduring the entire operation of rolling Ythe glass, keeping the saine inclination throughout rolling process, then tilting it to a horizontal position to allow the yfinished plateV r to be transferred to the lehr. This rolling would thenpreferably be done whilev the table is tipping` hackwardly, the glassiiowing` against and resisting the travel of the roll. i y y lf claim asmy invention:` Y y u y l. The step in the process of `formingsheet glass which comprises ,depositing a mass rofniolten( glass upon the lower portion of an inclined surface, and then tilting .the n surfaceto reverse the.V direction of incline and thereby cause the'glass to How toward the ,opposite end of said sin ace.

2. The step in the process of feminine"V sheet which comprises depositing a mass of molten glass' upon the lower portion ofan inclined surface that is convex in cross L section, and then tilting the surface to reverse the direction .of incline and thereby cause fthe glass to iow toward the opposite end of said surface.

The' method of forminov sheet lass,

`which comprises depositing ainass of inol` ten glass uponthe lower portion off anfinclined surface, and then tilting the said sur! face towarda horizontal plane and rolling theglass thereon. ,Y f

s The Sten-,11.1 @lis-traces* eff farming iso sheet glass Which comprises depositing a' mass oi' molten glass upon a table and then tilting the table to accelerate the spread of glass. v

5. The step in the p-rocess oi forming sheet glass which comprises depositing .a mass of molten glass upon an inclined table While the surface of the table is changing its degree ot' inclination. Y Y

6. The step in the process oi forming sheet glass Which comprises ldepositing a massot molten glass upon an inclined table, commencing to roll the glass upon said table While the surface of the table is inclined, and thereafter changing the inclination of the tahle.

7. The method of forming sheet glass which comprises depositing a mass of molten f glass upon a ta-lole While the surface of the Awhich comprises depositing a mass of molten glass upona table, starting to roll, the glass while the surface of the table is in a horizontal position,tilting the table forwardly, and continuingrolling While the table is inclined forwardly and the glass flowing hy` gravity in the direction of travel of the roll.

l0. Themethod of forming sheet rglass which comprises depositing a mass of molten glassv upon an inclined table, starting to roll with the table inclined backwardly, the flow of glass being yin the opposite. direction to and resisting the travel of the roll, continuing the rolling with the table in a horizontal position, further continuing the rolling with the table inclined forwardly, and completing the `rolling with the surface of the table in a. horizontal position.

1l. jThe method of forming sheet glass, which comprises depositing a mass ot molten glass upon an inclined table, starting to roll the glass Whilel the table is in an inclined position, continuing the rolling during this inclination of the table for asubstantial distance', moving the talole from said position, continuing the rolling after the table hecornes again stationary, and further continuing the rolling after moving the table to an inclination'opposite to that in Which the rolling iirst started, thislatter rolling beingl continued for a substantial distance.

l2. The step in the process of forming sheet glassy which comprises depositing a mass oi' molten glass upon an inclined table, Waiting a substantial interval off-time for the glass to spread laterally of the table, then starting to roll the glass `vvhile the table is in an inclined position.,

13. rl`he methodot 'forming sheet glass,

which comprises depositing molten glass Aupon a table, rolling thewglass on the table,

and varying the angularity ot the table during rolling, the table being held at each ot a plurality of positions for a substantial period ot time.

14. The method of forming sheet glass,-

1vhich comprises depositing molten 'glass upon a talole, rolling the glass on the table, and varying the angularity oli the table during rolling, the glass being rolled for a tions of the table.

l5. Apparatus forV forming sheet glass which comprises a. table upon one end ot which molten glass may loe deposited pre-k paratory to rolling the same, and meansffor varying the angularity of the glass-receiving surface with respect to a horizontal plane.

1G. Apparatus for forming sheet glass which comprises a table that is convex in cross section upon one end of which molten glass may he deposited preparatory to rolling the same, and means for varying the angularity of' the glass-receiving surface with respect to a horizontal plane.

17. Apparatus `for forming sheetglass which comprisesa table upon one end of which molten glass may be deposited pre- Vparatory to rolling the same, means for sup- (itl substantial distance at each of various posi# porting the table in an inclined positionl when receiving a mass oi' molten glass, and means for thereafter reversing the direction of inclination, yto cause the glass kto flow forwardly of the table under the action of gravity; i y

18. Apparatus for forming sheet glass comprising a tablelx a sheet-forming roll, and means for tilting the table during movenient ot said roll longitudinally of the tahle.

Signed at Butler, Pa., this 6th `day of March, 1926.

Geenen nov/lian llt) 

